Curious Possibilities

It’s conference week here at the PNWA. If you’re attending, I hope you stop by and say hello.

I know it can be a little stressful, especially if you’re pitching. I’ve met all the agents and editors who’ll be attending this year, and I can assure they’re all nice people – but that doesn’t really help, does it? Reminding you to relax or that there are plenty of other agents and editors if this one isn’t interested doesn’t help either. Perhaps the only thing that might help is an assurance that whomever you’re pitching to will love your idea and want to see the entire manuscript right away. But you’re a grownup, so you know such assurances are impossible.

So, what is possible? It’s certainly possible to write a story that excites and inspires you. Hopefully, on a good day the very writing of that story was enough to get you out of bed in the morning. Yes, there were days when you didn’t know where it was going, or if it was any good, or if working on it was just a waste of time, but those were few enough that here you are at a conference with a finished or soon-to-be-finished manuscript. Apparently, it’s possible to overcome your worst doubts when you love a project more than you fear it might fail.

And it’s also possible that if you loved the story someone else will love it too. There’s no telling who, but someone. You know this in the same way you know it’s possible – in fact, highly probable – that you’ll make a friend or two at the conference. You’ve made friends before. It’s what always happens when likeminded people gather together. All that agreement breeds kinship, as you recognize a fellow traveler headed in your direction.

And why do you travel but for the possibilities that road will bring? You’ve never known where it’s going, but if you’re honest, you’ve been curious about its path. Curiosity is a writer’s superpower, the source of every story ever told. What’s more, curiosity has no fear of the unknown, for that is where it thrives. You’ve been turning to your curiosity for as long as you’ve been writing. Turn to it again if you’re feeling wobbly at the conference. It’s nothing but eager to learn what will happen next, how this chapter of your story will unfold.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com